Like We Were Family
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1370: Chloe has been invited to partake in family movie night with Rachel and Sophie, and she doesn't even think they realize what it means to her - Red series


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 64th cycle. Now cycle 65!_

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**"Like We Were Family"  
(Older) Rachel, Sophie (OC), Chloe (OC)  
Red series  
_(no listing yet; sequel to "Red in the Face")_  
**

The day after going out to meet her new friends and running into the Greek statue boy, Chloe had decided she needed to dedicate some quality time to reviewing what she had learned so far in Rachel Berry's workshop. They weren't meeting again until two days from now, and she wanted to return to show she had been paying attention and that she had learned things. If it ever came that they'd know she was staying with the teacher, she wanted to excel by her own merits and by nothing else.

"What are you doing?" Sophie's voice startled her and she nearly smacked into the wall mid-turn. "Woah, are you okay?" the girl laughed, while Chloe tried to stop her heart ramming against her chest.

"Y-yeah, sorry, I… Just when we were at the workshop the other day, Miss Be… Your mother told me about something I needed to work on, and I was… trying to do that," she explained.

"It looked fine from where I was standing. Now, come on, you've been summoned," she gestured for her to come along.

"I have?" her eyes had filled with panic, which prompted Sophie to shake her head.

"Not like that, you're not in any trouble, believe me. But we haven't had one of our special… family… movie night… nights, in a long time, and now my mother has gotten it in her head to have one, so you need to come and make her happy with me, which shouldn't be hard," Sophie explained, grabbing the girl's arm and pulling her along.

"Family night?" Chloe asked, suddenly very aware of her appearance. She still had her workout clothes on, and while she had put them on fresh out of the drier only an hour ago, she was concerned she might have a smell on her. As for her hair, it had been piled on top of her head to try and keep the unruly curls out of her way, which was an endeavor if she ever saw one. Also, and this was the part that was making her feel the most out of place, this was family night, and they were inviting her. If she wasn't feeling her heart going so fast still, she might have thought it was a dream.

But as they arrived downstairs, she saw the curtains had been drawn, the table had been filled with any assortment of snack things and drinks, and Rachel Berry herself was sorting through potential movie selections.

"No, hey, step away from the Barbra collection," Sophie called to her mother. "We've been there. A lot."

"But not with our guest," Rachel turned with a smile.

"I-I don't mind," Chloe provided, which seemed to please Rachel, who gave a triumphant nod to her daughter.

"Mom, come on," Sophie dramatically begged.

"Alright, alright, fine, be that way," she turned back to the shelf. "Are you sure you're my child?"

"Well if I'm not, someone's going to have to explain this smile to me," she pointed to her face, pulling the Berry-est of smiles.

"Cute," Rachel conceded, returning to the movie selection. "Here, this, does this satisfy you?" she held one box out.

"Well, it's a start," Sophie dashed up, scanning the sizable collection before pulling another. "But then we have to watch this, too, you know we do. Chloe, you pick one, too."

"No, that's okay, really," she promised, but Rachel came to get her.

"Sophie's right, now go on, anything you like," she tilted her head.

"Mom!" Sophie called out, and Chloe snorted.

"I wasn't looking at the Barbra section, I swear!"

"She has her section," Sophie bowed her head to Chloe, who smirked.

She had finally selected a movie of her own, and so the evening had begun. She had been planted right in the middle on the couch, and she was certain she'd missed half of the first movie, too busy feeling like she'd never been this happy in her life.

The problem with thinking about this idea was that it brought on another, one she had not spoken to anyone about. She had lived in New York before, briefly, when she'd run away trying to find her father, and it had been alright, magical as only New York could be to her, but nonetheless she had been living on very small means, which took away some of the charm after a while.

But now here she was, living with her idol and her daughter, going to her workshop, and suddenly she was living the kind of New York life she had only ever dreamed about. She was actually starting to feel like a New Yorker, and she knew it was probably going to take much longer for her to be more of one, only… only…

Only at the end of the summer, all this would end. She would wake up from her dream and end up back in Indiana. She loved her hometown, of course she did, but this place… This place was where she had come alive for the first time, let herself be the person she had always wanted to be. She knew she couldn't expect to stay here in Rachel Berry's home forever, that when her summer was done, she would be back to living of little means, but somewhere in her heart there was a devil trying to get to her, to tell her that she didn't actually want to leave this dream land. She wanted to keep slumbering and keep living happily ever after.

But she'd promised her mother she would return, and she couldn't stay with Rachel Berry forever, no matter how much it would be the most wonderful thing. She was living on borrowed time here.

"Popcorn?" Sophie offered her the bowl, and she smiled, taking a handful.

She wasn't leaving yet though, and she had been invited to family night. No matter what the future held, she had to hold on to the present, smile some more. _If we watched a Barbra movie, she might sing along… If this dream is going to end, then I better make it the best dream there was._

"Actually, I think I'd like to change my movie choice, if it's not too late."

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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